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Title: Does the fiery spirit of 1776 still burn?
Source:
St. Petersburg Times
URL Source: http://www.sptimes.com/News/070401/ ... ns/Does_the_fiery_spirit.shtml
Published: Jul 4, 2001
Author: Howard Troxler
Post Date: 2008-07-04 14:34:47 by X-15
Keywords: None
Views: 3037
Comments: 93
Today we celebrate our right to overthrow the government. There is no pussyfooting around this fact. It is the central meaning of Independence Day. Today's firecrackers are reminders of the bloody war we were willing to fight against the British to win freedom. Bang. We can try to rename today's holiday the more innocuous "Fourth of July." We can outlaw firecrackers on the grounds of nuisance and fire hazard and you'll-put-somebody's-eye-out. But so far nobody has been able to rewrite the Declaration of Independence itself, and the words of that document are crystal clear. Today is a spiritual, passionate, angry, violent holiday for a modern society that is squeamish about every one of those adjectives. If you get a chance today, you should read the actual words of the Declaration. Read the whole thing. It's even better out loud. Imagine you are really fed up while you're reading it. When you get to the list of abuses by King George III, you will get angrier and angrier. I still do. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. Endowed by their Creator! Were the Framers deftly sidestepping the word "God," or in their day did they simply assume that one word was synonymous with the other? Either way is fine -- the point is that we have inherent rights that can never be taken away. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. There's the Big Idea. Government gets its authority from the consent of the people. It is one of the most important political things anybody ever said, except maybe for the next sentence . . . That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government... And that is the gist of it. The people give the government its power. If the government becomes tyrannical, the people have the right to cast it off. This does not mean that the Framers intended us to start a revolution every time we got ticked off. It does not bestow any moral authority on kooks and extremists. In fact, Jefferson and his editors stressed just the opposite: government should not be changed for "light and transient causes." But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. Legally speaking, do you know how much weight the Declaration of Independence carries today? None. Zippo. The Constitution is the sole basis of our government. Yet the Constitution would not have been possible without the Declaration -- it is the "new Guard." An opinion survey this week said 66 percent of us do not believe Americans would be as willing to call for a revolution today as they were 225 years ago. But are we really so puny? We have glorified the Revolution over the past two and a quarter centuries. The truth is it was a controversial and divisive time. A lot of colonists wanted the King to win. They were willing to live under tyranny for a little extra security. Do you think they magically grew a better crop of human beings in the 1700s? Or did Americans of that era rise to the occasion, just as they did in a Civil War, in a terrible Depression, in two 20th-century wars against global evil? In our modern life we are fat and happy and safe and selfish. The question for today is whether in that comfort and selfishness, an essential American idea has been extinguished, or is just sleeping. 
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Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 19.
#4. To: X-15 (#0)
The last embers died in 1865.
The last embers died in 1865. Sir, I shall consume one, no two, more Grain Belt Premiums before I (maybe) come back and address this post! ;-)
This country has been involved in two major wars in its own interest. The first one, The Revolutionary War, Americans won. The second one, The Civil War, Americans lost. The Civil War was the dying gasp of Americans wanting to be free. Since 1865, Americans have not had the stomach nor the will to defy this government. One foreign war after another has been our fate.
The first one, The Revolutionary War, Americans won. The second one, The Civil War, Americans lost. The Civil War was the dying gasp of Americans wanting to be free. Since 1865, Americans have not had the stomach nor the will to defy this government. One foreign war after another has been our fate. All of that being said, would you not agree with me that there are at least 1,000,000 Americans left willing to wage and win a last minute overthrow of the illegal shadow government. Especially if the majority of military families side with America? ;-)
NO.... Something is lacking. There is NO leader, no cohesion, no glue. Ron Paul decided he was not the man.
Something is lacking. There is NO leader, no cohesion, no glue. Ron Paul decided he was not the man. Ron Paul was never the man to say "Now, is the time!". Every American of conscience must be prepared to be the insurgent. This isn't about 1 guy anymore, nor was it ever IMO. ;-)
Recall the difference between the Revolutionary times and now. At that time there were untold men that stepped forward to lead, to write, to orate, and to fight. We have no one, not a person that dares raise their head to lead. ALL movements, good or bad MUST have a leader. It is not about one man, was not in 1776, it was many men but Washington was chosen to lead and he did. Ron Paul did us a disservice by NOT bringing out someone with fire in their belly to lead, someone that shared his views. We have nothing.
At that time there were untold men that stepped forward to lead, to write, to orate, and to fight. We have no one, not a person that dares raise their head to lead. ALL movements, good or bad MUST have a leader. It is not about one man, was not in 1776, it was many men but Washington was chosen to lead and he did. Ron Paul did us a disservice by NOT bringing out someone with fire in their belly to lead, someone that shared his views. We have nothing. I have something. I hope you still have something. I hope at least 1 million others have something. ;-)
Mass movement is not possible in this country. This security thing being jammed down our throats is not for our security, it is for the security of the government, the status quo, all else is BS. The ruling elite can manufacture a president in less than a year, from nothing, and the people buy it. Let one man stand up and ask this government be overthrown and he will be in prison or worse. Thats why we have NO ONE.
Thats why the pay Rush $400 million and Hanniety $200 million
We will have chaos and insurrection but it will not be for a better system.
#36. To: Cynicom. The Thread (#19)
Email from friend that fits in: Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence? Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured. Nine of the 56fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War. They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor. What kind of men were they? Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners; men of means, well educated. But they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured. Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags. Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him,and poverty was his reward. Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Rutledge, and Middleton. At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson Jr, noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt. Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months. John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished. A few weeks later he died from exhaustion and a broken heart. Norris and Livingston suffered similar fates. Such were the stories and sacrifices of the American Revolution. These were not wild-eyed, rabble- rousing ruffians. They were soft-spoken men of means and education. They had security, but they valued liberty more. Standing tall, straight, and unwavering, they pledged: "For the support of this declaration, with firm reliance on the protection of the divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor." They gave you and me a free and independent America. The history books never told you a lot about what happened in the Revolutionary War. We didn't fight just the British. We were British subjects at that time and we fought our own government! Some of us take these liberties so much for granted, but we shouldn't. So,take a few minutes while enjoying your 4th of July holiday and silently thank these patriots. It's not much to ask for the price they paid. Remember: Freedom is never free! It's time we get the word out that patriotism is NOT a sin, and the Fourth of July has more to it than beer, picnics, and baseball games.
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/LatestDoes the fiery spirit of 1776 still burn?
#5. To: Cynicom (#4)
Does the fiery spirit of 1776 still burn?
#6. To: Rotara (#5)
before I (maybe) come back and address this post! ;-)
#7. To: Cynicom (#6)
This country has been involved in two major wars in its own interest.
#8. To: Rotara (#7)
All of that being said, would you not agree with me that there are at least 1,000,000 Americans left willing to wage and win a last minute overthrow of the illegal shadow government.
#9. To: Cynicom (#8)
NO....
#11. To: Rotara (#9)
This isn't about 1 guy anymore, nor was it ever IMO. ;-)
#12. To: Cynicom (#11)
Recall the difference between the Revolutionary times and now.
#14. To: Rotara (#12)
I have something. I hope you still have something. I hope at least 1 million others have something. ;-)
#15. To: Cynicom (#14)
#19. To: robnoel (#15)
Replies to Comment # 19. I've enjoyed reading everyone's thoughts here.
End Trace Mode for Comment # 19.